To Celebrate Earth Hour 2014, Gili Lankanfushi is proudly launching The Coral Lines project, a non-profit coral reef rehabilitation project !
Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse and yet most threatened ecosystems in the world… The best way to save the coral reefs globally is to protect them from any damage; support conservation, take care when snorkeling /diving & reduce your carbon footprint in your daily life.
People can also help one small reef to recover by nursing coral. Our guests will now be able to donate a Coral Line – a rope planted with 50 baby corals, which will be nursed to Gili Lankanfushi standard. As far as we know, this is the first time that this novel method of growing coral will be used in the Maldives.
At Gili Lankanfushi we will be recovering the One Palm Island reef by nursing coral on ropes (lines) (method by Levy et al., 2010) and later transplanting it on the coral reef (method by Lindahl, 2003). Every rope is initially planted with 50 small, living coral fragments. We nurse the corals in the lagoon for 1 year and later transplant the rope to the One Palm Island reef. Overtime we expect the corals to get stronger, grow bigger and improve the health of the One Palm Island Reef. Guests will also be able to track how the coral is growing at http://lines.lankanfushi.com
Our project is a research study on the subject of Coral Reef rehabilitation science, and 75% of the proceeds from every Coral Line donated will go to Gili SEAS (Social & Environmental Awareness and
Sustainability) fund, allowing our property to do more for the locals and more for the environment.
Sustainability) fund, allowing our property to do more for the locals and more for the environment.
However we did not conclude the Earth Hour celebrations with the introduction of Coral Lines Project. We celebrated the whole day. At breakfast our guests were invited to make pledges for the Earth; from small things such as taking shorter showers, to bigger commitments such as avoiding flying short-haul flights. In total, we have received 97 pledges.
Towards the evening we made a 15 meter “60+” display on the sand, and invited everyone to come and lend us a hand, with lighting the candles. Our candles were made in-house, from half coconuts filled with old kitchen oil.
In the evening, we switched the resort lights off for 90 minutes. Guests were having a lovely candlelit dinner, with a special offering from our chef Stefan – a truly local meal; Jungle-wood barbecued tuna belly.
